COVID-19 has changed how all businesses operate, and none are affected more than healthcare. As ASCs receive approval to reopen, how has the virus changed your culture of safety? 

COVID-19 has changed how all of us communicate. Chances are, you haven’t seen your patients in a while. So how can you increase patient engagement now?

As ASCs prepare to re-open post-COVID-19, infection control is first and foremost on everyone’s mind. What protocols does your ASC have in place to make infection prevention a priority?

In some regions, the COVID-19 curve is successfully flattening, and we are getting closer and closer to restarting elective surgeries. Already, administrators should be evaluating the backlog of missed operations and re-prioritizing how to proceed when they get the sign-off to re-open. How has COVID-19 changed the landscape of outpatient surgery?

The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) has released a checklist to help ASCs consider what they need to do to begin caring for non-COVID-19 patients. The full list is available for ASCA members, and we’ve outlined some of the most crucial factors below.

In these dark days of closed facilities and furloughed/terminated staff, it is easy to get caught up in how unfair, unforeseen, and terribly depressing this situation has been for ambulatory surgery centers and the world.  

We understand that these times continue to make life feel stressful and heavy. We are all affected in different capacities; some are working more, some from home, others are dealing with the stress of not working at all. Some of us live in the states that are considered 'hot-spots' and others are in an area with only a few cases of COVID-19. Some have cancelled major life events, missed out on our big plans, and some have even had to say goodbye to family members and friends.

We haven't lost sight of you. The healthcare field consists of real-life superheroes and our job here at 1MP is to help you through these uncharted waters in any way that we can. No matter how much or how little you feel affected by this, we want to remind you just how appreciated you are each and every day.

We will get through this together and we vow to have your back even after this storm has passed.

So you’re shut down or slowed down because of the coronavirus. We are all a bit worried, fearful and even angry about what has happened. In dark times like these, I find it helps to stay busy, and know that very soon, to rip-off the classic line from Annie – “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow”. This pandemic WILL end in the near future, and the end is likely to be just as rapid as the onset.

So what to do while you are waiting? Here’s Part 2 of my list of 10 things every ASC can do to stay busy and come out the other side of this pandemic stronger and more prepared than ever:

DISCLAIMER -  I am not Anthony Fauci, MD or Deborah Birx, MD.  I am not speaking for the CDC and I don’t have any randomized clinical trials to point to.  What I do have is common sense. So here’s my thought: We should be washing our faces with soap and warm/hot water, not just our hands.